Engine Block Heater

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bestmapman @ Jun 7 2007, 03:35 PM) [snapback]457525[/snapback]</div>

Your in luck, contact the Firefighter in Prius Chat. Indiana is close to him.

 

That would be FireEngineer to be exact. He's driven to the Mid-Atlantic, New England, and Colorado to install them for folks (me included), so I'm sure your area's a piece of cake, schedule permitting.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Jun 7 2007, 04:07 PM) [snapback]457552[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for the correction. Wayne said he will do mine when he comes East again.

 

Road trip !

Any dealer you ask will probably have no experience and so will charge 1-2 hours of labor, approx. $110-$250 depending.

If you'd like a free install you can do one of 2 things; come to Hybridfest where I'll be putting them in all weekend-even though it's suppose to be only Sunday morning (don't tell Eric). Or you can wait until I can schedule a road trip to your area, usually I like to have a couple to do for a longish road trip. Or (oops, 3, 3 things you could do), come up to Chicago for your own road trip, take about 40 minutes to perform and then you can enjoy the city (if you like) or hurry home, heck the gas up here and back is cheaper than a dealer. Or (darn, 4, 4 things you could do) find a mechanic you trust and have them do it cheaper than a dealer.

If you'd like your freebie install just PM me.

Wayne

 

Does anyone know if 08 Prius in Canada by default comes w/ Engine Block Heater or not?

(or I guess I can wait til tomorrow when I get my new car to find out...)

I can't wait.. hehe

 

Welcome to PriusChat and Prius-dom!

I don't know whether it's standard equipment, but the block heaters we folks south of the border use actually is a Toyota Canada part. So I assume the dealers there are more familiar with them than US dealers are. Of course this doesn't mean they wouldn't still charge for a couple of hours labor for a job that Wayne has down to less than 30 minutes.

Hmm, I wonder if Wayne has ever visited Canada?

 

Wayne,
What does the engine block heater installation consist of? I thought it was a heating element you place in the oil dipstick. Do you require an electric outlet available with all EBH's or do they have battery powered ones for car owners living in condos?

 

May I answer for Wayne?

It doesn't heat the oil via the dipstick channel; it heats the block itself. The heating element fits into a hole built into the block at the factory for this purpose. It's what I was describing in your thread.

It's not a technically difficult installation. The biggest problem is limited access to the hole, so the installer has to insert it blindly in a tight working area in the midst of several under-the-hood components. (Wayne jokes about having left DNA from his arms on dozens of engine blocks around the country.) The designated hole is not the only one in that general area, and there has been at least one report of a user choosing the wrong one and destroying his heater after plugging in.

If you're inclined to try it yourself, here is a set of instructions with pics that will help.

As for a power supply ... well, see your thread for my response.

 

Well I picked up my Prius this afternoon and looked inside the hood, doesn't even able to see where the block heater suppose to be mounted. But I don't see any AC cord either so I assume it is not there.....

 

You wouldn't be able to see the heater anyway (the element is buried within its receptacle in the block), but the cord certainly would be visible.

 

Well if I remember correctly, I recall seeing one photo (installation instruction) the install point was somewhere near the oil filter which I can see...

But yea, no AC cord, seems to be a clear sign it is not there.... Now living in Canada, I wonder if I should get one... Just I need to run a cord from the garage to the driveway...

To those of you who has the block heater, when you start the car in Winter, it is just like starting in Summer, no need for the ICE to start just to warm up the engine?

 

The heater actually installs more toward the rear of the block, but no matter.

The Prius has somewhat of a peculiar warmup sequence, with some nuances that no one can explain -- except the Toyota engineers, and they don't check in with us here. If you're looking for details, I'll refer you to this document that explains the five warmup stages in detail. But in short, the block heater accelerates that process and gets the car to the later stages more quickly. The net effect is better fuel economy in the first few minutes after a cold start. A typical improvement in the first five minutes is 25 MPG without the EBH to 40-50 MPG with, and even more under the right driving conditions. As always, YMMV -- both figures may be lower in the Great White North. But the improvement is likely to be greater because of the colder climate.

To address your specific question: It doesn't make it start quite like it does in summer. In fact, it actually might be better. The EBH doesn't eliminate the S1 ICE startup, which is more to warm the catalytic converter. It only shortens it. But it also shortens S2 and allows the car to shut off when not needed for propulsion under certain conditions while moving. A winter startup with EBH preheat may have a shorter S1 and S2 than a summer startup without, depending on the ambient temperatures. And on some of the hottest summer days in my neck of the woods (yes, I use it in the summer even in the Mid-Atlantic), I've seen it warm quickly enough to completely bypass S2; it's at S3/S4 temperature as soon as S1 is done.

You might consider browsing through this thread. It's probably the most complete discussion of the block heater on PriusChat.

 

Jim,
Thanks for your response. I actually read many of your responses. If your not a Prius or engineering expert your certainly not far from it. I like the engine block heater..I don't have an outlet in my condo so I guess it isn't an issue. I am happy with my mileage now and the thought of prolonging the MPG's during the winter months seem to be ideal. I am going to check my unheated garage at work. I may have an outlet there. Terry

 

Well, I am quite flattered! Thank you for your kind remark, but no, I'm nowhere close to an engineer or an expert. What I am is a student of those who are. So mostly I just parrot what they say.

As I mentioned in your thread, you might consider a grille block in cold weather. If you can't accelerate the warmup process, you can at least help keep it from losing heat.

 

Very interesting reading. Thx for the pointers... Afterall I am still a newbie with my prius for less than 36 hours as of writing...